Lawmakers divided over heavy tax on misdeclared income in Vietnam's anti-corruption bill

The bill would see a 45 percent personal income tax being levied on
officials with misdeclared or unexplained assets and incomes.

The National Assembly's Justice Committee has asked for adjustments to be
made to a draft amendment of the anti-corruption law that would introduce
punishments for civil servants who misdeclare their assets or incomes.

According to the bill drafted by the Government Inspectorate, if authorities
confirm that a civil servant's assets or incomes are greater than the values
they declare, or they fail to provide valid explanations for unofficial assets
and incomes, they will face a 45 percent personal income tax.

At a meeting on Monday, the Justice Committee agreed that officials who make
false delcarations should be punished because many of their assets and incomes
originate from corruption or other illegal activities.

However, some of the committee disagreed with the proposal and said that the
assets should simply be seized. They argued that violators should face tax
evasion charges rather than an inflated income tax.

Additionally, the researchers claimed that in reality, violators could be
categorized into three groups: those who misdeclared assets or income but could
prove their legality, those who both misdeclared and failed to provide a valid
explanation for the sources of extra assets or income, and those who properly
declared their assets and income but could not prove they were obtained
legally.

"These cases are different in nature and constitute different degrees of
violations, so need to be dealt with individually," said Nguyen Manh Cuong,
deputy chief of the Justice Committee.

According to Cuong, if a violator could prove their misdeclared assets and
income were obtained legally then their punishment must be lighter than for
those who could not.

In addition to the much-debated measures, the bill would see the Government
Inspectorate directly monitor the assets and incomes of many officials in
leading and managerial positions. In the draft, the Government Inspectorate
also suggested making it mandatory for civil servants to make payments through
bank transfer if possible to better control their income.

The National Assembly is scheduled to hold a final discussion on the bill
before voting at a session in May.

Vietnam's sweeping corruption crackdown spearheaded by General Secretary of
the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong has ensnared scores of high-profile
officials.

The Party has pledged to step up its fight against corruption even further
this year to filter out corrupt officials as well as to tackle violations
committed at a local level.

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released by Transparency
International in February, ranks Vietnam 107th out of 180 economies based on
perceptions of experts and businesspeople.

Vietnam scored 35 on a scale based on 0 for deep-rooted, systemic corruption
and 100 for a very clean environment. Last year, it was ranked 113th out of 176
countries and territories with a score of 33, an improvement from 31 in
2012.